Rhyan Johnson

UX researchers: Imagine sending hundreds of participant incentives in a single batch. With mass payouts, you can. No more manual processing. No more errors. Just efficient, scalable payouts. Get more details on how mass payouts work in our recent article.

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I sat down with Reforge to talk about Sprig on Sprig 🌱 Check out some examples of how I use our product to make impact strategic & product decisions! In-app survey for product experience research: https://lnkd.in/g32rWs4s Process (and FigJam) used to audit a core user journey: https://lnkd.in/gqNQHHxq In-app survey to recruit beta testers: https://lnkd.in/ghmnzhA9

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Great perspective and reminder on fundamentals of successful teams, thanks Sam Wettling, Keith Swiderski at Zilker Trail Consulting Disclaimer: Sam's been my "part therapist" since 2010 through guitar jam sessions 🎸🤘 Fifteen years into my career, I'm still astonished by how leaders in groups, big and small, are rowing in different 👈😕👉 directions despite best intentions. We're always missing out when product and marketing efforts are misaligned. Analytics, Partnerships, BizDev, Sales, CS, they're all part of the same unit from the customer's perspective. Just like a kid asking both parents and getting different answers 🤷‍♂️, customers can smell dissent a mile away as soon as more than one team engages with them. I particularly liked the simplicity of your GPS (goals, problems, solutions) workshop model and the safe space provided to openly discuss challenges. More often than acceptable, solutions don't solve problems that matter and problems being solved don't support the goals. Even more common in my experience is the absence of clear goals ⛳ Most companies I've engaged with or joined have needed a major upgrade in: 📐 Defining metrics that matter in their problem space (value vs. vanity) 📈 Setting and tracking goals that support desired outcomes (funding, profitability, growth, talent retention, ...) 📢 Communicating, evaluating and adapting to progress toward goals "Aren't we already aligned to our goals?" I often hear when asking the simplest questions. "No, seemingly not. Here's how it's manifesting... frustrated/overworked staff, mediocre NPS, limited internal and external feedback, the list of symptoms goes on. True leaders take the bull by the horns, roll up their sleeves and fight complacency in those situations. Then, you have a working team and system that can honestly achieve whatever they put their efforts to. Although, I suggest rolling up sleeves first 🐂🤕

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Ever wonder how to make users fall in love with your product at first click? 💘 Dive into my latest post, "UX Design and Onboarding Strategies for Explosive Growth," where I spill the beans on creating a user experience so smooth, it’s practically butter. 🧈 #ProductLedGrowth #PLG #UXDesign #UserOnboarding

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📊 In Jellyfish's 2024 State of Engineering Management Report, we gathered insights from over 600 engineering professionals to uncover the most pressing challenges and trends in 2024. From visibility into project status to the adoption of advanced tooling, the data reveals significant gaps and opportunities. For instance, did you know that 31% of teams struggle with visibility into their projects, with the number rising to 57% in larger organizations? How does your team compare?

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As a long-time Line 6 Helix user, I found this interview with its architect Eric Klein really interesting. Much good talk about user experience and usability. "If somebody tells you there's a problem with what you're offering them, they're almost always right. But if someone tries to give you a solution to that problem, they're almost always wrong." Chimes strongly with my experiences over the years. Address needs. Solve problems. Taking feature requests from users is how products can die.

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How has the new wave of AI impacted QA? Come find out in the latest clip of "Baked, Baking, or Dough?"

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Have a plan. But don't expect to stick to it.   In PMM, we're at the forefront of product launches.     We can plan them to a tee. Dates, deliverables, responsibilities.   It's great on paper. But you know what happens in reality?   It doesn't go to plan. It rarely ever does.   - The product release gets pushed - GTM strategy changes - Last minute requests   There's a lot of moving parts - meaning there's a lot that can change.   Product launches are rarely rigid, set-in-stone things. We need to be fluid & flexible, able to adapt to the changing requirements of the business.   Your plan is a guideline for what, when, how. Dates can get pushed, tactics can change & specifics can vary.   As PMMs, we've gotta stay close to the detail, so we can adjust accordingly.     As nice as it would be to have everything planned to perfection, the best launches are often the ones where you pool together as a team & get the best out of whatever's thrown your way. It'd be boring if surprises never happened, right? 😅

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Check out this blog article, coauthored by Jacqueline Tolisano highlighting some work my colleagues Karen Herr, Stephanie Louraine and Nora Yim Stern did to ensure Salesforce is building accessible AI solutions. 🦾💛 #salesforceA11y

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Two things I’ve seen the best PMs do really well: 1. Creating hype: They get everyone in the organization excited about any initiative and align xfn teams. 2. Open-mindedness: They don’t get too attached to a specific idea. Instead, they take a step back, view things objectively, and obsessively gather feedback from as many people as possible. Kevin Anderson is one such awesome PM who has a genuine curiosity and infectious passion for Experimentation. I had a fireside chat with Kevin last week hosted by Statsig, where we discussed various topics, including the latest trends in experimentation, build vs. buy, reducing friction, measuring success, and so many insightful anecdotes that you can check out here: https://lnkd.in/gRgi4KDd #productmanagement #experimentation #data

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Great oppening session at #NAGAP talking about what’s holding us back. I love this idea that we often forget that failure isn’t final. Especially in product your first idea isn’t likely to work. Listen, identify and iterate until it does. Failure isn’t final.

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There's an oft-cited stat from Pendo that 80% of software features are rarely, if ever, used. While it's impossible to know the accuracy of that, it's not hard to believe. I've been part of multiple feature factories, where emphasis was put on new features to 'claim' rather than taking time to ensure we've actually solved the desired problem before moving onto the next. If you're a Product Manager/Leader in the Indy area, join us on August 14 for a conversation around best practices for measuring product success. We'll have food, drinks, and hopefully some great learnings! (Registration link in the comments)

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🔥 From our internal MSFT Teams chat, a hot take on how UX Design skills / orgs will need to change in the face of AI. 🧑🏼‍💻 Let's debate.... On the Experience side and the evolution of experience, a few things swirl in my mind. ➡️ Co-pilot design: Designers should understand LLM training and fine tuning to partner with dev on the personality and answer output. ➡️ Audio interface design: voice style, and general audio interfaces. ➡️ Parameter based design: given the multitude of output interfaces (size, visual, audio, context) - the variables, context, and parameters will be more important than the exact "interface". ➡️ Character / personality design: with LLM's / GenAI heading towards commodity, the ability to understand a brand personality, and bring that into an "agent" could be unique and groundbreaking. ➡️ From IA to "Findability": For decades, the IA has dictated how users traverse an app or site. With conversational UI, we move to a world of Q&A... not sure yet how these all live together. People talk about the "age of average" where mobile apps are becoming all the same, but I'd argue, this is an opportunity. https://lnkd.in/dgEykwCC Let that go - embrace the uniformity like cars... there is a steering wheel, fours tires, and doors - we don't redesign cars! There is a reason for it!! We now have a chance to design the car... and the roads... and the tunnels... and the highways... complete complex systems. Let's embrace it! 🚀

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The runway has gotten shorter for many product teams. We need to be specific about the value the product creates for customers: Specifically how rev, cost, and/or efficiency will be improved. The entire team needs to align to C-level stakeholders in customer organizations. If only GTM teams think about this, it's too late. In discovery, when figuring out specific outcomes and problems to tackle, also understand the value created for customers. Include GTM, write a PRFAQ if it helps. If you had to pick just 1 persona to align with and rally around, pick the customer CFO. Use plain language and be specific, internally and externally for consistency. Internally, leverage your CFO as a proxy to help validate. #productmanagement

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Have you ever wondered what goes into the design of your favorite tools? 💭 Product designers from Loom, Grammarly, and Calendly are coming together to discuss the importance of customer research and how they design with customers in mind. Sign up to get design and research tips from the best in the business! ⬇️

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Although it might be simple, I've found great mileage in using Todd Jackson's framework for working towards Product Market Fit - Persona, Problem, Promise, and Product. I especially like that they are listed in this order as well, as they indicate which ones you should understand first, second, third, etc - but also which are easiest to tweak or pivot if you aren't finding PMF within a 'normal' timeframe. Changing whom your product works for is a lot easier than changing the product itself! One thing I also especially like about this framework is that it brings the Problem to the front, and forces us as product developers to become "experts in the problem" - or, as Uri Levine says 'fall in love with the problem'. Deep understanding of the user/customer problem is the life-blood of good product development, yet too often we don't give this aspect enough attention. I've found that working with skilled UX-researchers, product designers, PMs, and other engineers who are hungry to understand the deeper motivations and pain points a user is facing as an excellent way to grow myself in this area. Lastly, I've found these '4Ps' to provide a helpful level of clarity when thinking through experiments, prioritisation, or even which metrics to care about as you navigate the journey towards PMF. https://lnkd.in/gyw9dRNW

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Startups are hard. Like really hard. Constant change management? If you're even able to plan for it. Best practices? If you're lucky. Key stakeholder deficiencies? Hopefully you can mitigate them. Clear direction? Maybe for this week. Your dad probably told you, "nothing in life worth having is easy." My dad was right. Yours probably was, too. Just remember: startups are hard. The folks best cutout for them recognize the above (along with a laundry list of other querks) and roll with the punches all the way to delivery.

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